Mind games carrying UTSA's Arriaga up rankings

Fabiola Arriaga, playing at the Alamo Invitational in October at Briggs Ranch Golf Club, is 31st in the individual college rankings, the highest status of any UTSA player in school history.

Photo By Jeff Huehn/UTSA Athletics

Fabiola Arriaga, playing at the Alamo Invitational in October at Briggs Ranch Golf Club, is 31st in the individual college rankings, the highest status of any UTSA player in school history.

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Fabiola Arriaga

College: UTSA

Class: Junior (communications major)

Hometown: Torreon, Mexico

Career highlights: Started playing at age 9 ... Views Mexican golfing legend Lorena Ochoa as her motivation ... Mexican national team member in 2009 and 2010 ... Competed in National Athletics Olympics in 2010 after winning U.S. national girls qualifier a year earlier ... Began 2012 fall season with top-five finishes for UTSA at first two tournaments ... Ended with three top-10 showings in UTSA’s four events ... Her Golfweek/Sagarin ranking has risen from No. 288 two years ago to 31st today.

Midway through her chilly first round at September's Golfweek Conference Challenge in Wolcott, Colo., Fabiola Arriaga had collected six bogeys en route to a miserable 42.

At that point, the UTSA junior was badly out of sync. But she wasn't out of contention — and she knew it.

“I told myself, ‘OK, it's time to start over — a fresh start,'” Arriaga said. “I made birdie, par, birdie and after those three holes I felt I could really do what I want. I played really well after that.”

The Mexican native, who hails from Torreon, shot 33 on the back for an opening 3-over 75 at Red Sky Golf Club. Follow-up rounds of 68 and 69 put her in a tie for second.

“She just went crazy the rest of the tournament,” UTSA coach Carrie Parnaby said. “She could have easily won.”

The showing, part of a remarkable ascension for the Roadrunners' team leader, was one of three top-10 finishes in four events in the fall schedule. Last month, the former Southland Conference Freshman of the Year tied for 10th at the Alamo Invitational at Briggs Ranch.

It's a confidence that has helped carry UTSA's team, which includes only one senior, to new heights. The Roadrunners finished the fall campaign ranked 41st in the Golfweek/Sagarin team rankings.

Arriaga, taking aim at a professional career in 2014, is 31st in the individual rankings, the highest status of any UTSA player in the school's annals.

The reason, Arriaga admits, is mental. Raw and undisciplined as a freshman, she now tackles rounds with methodical focus, dividing the 18 holes into six three-hole slices.

“She's absolutely started to hate shooting over par,” Parnaby said. “If she shoots 1- or 2-over now, she gets greatly annoyed with herself. Every day, she expects to play well.”

Improved in nearly every facet of her play — Arriaga still views chipping as a weakness — the two-time member of the Mexican national team ended her freshman season ranked 288th in the college rankings. By the end of last year, she had climbed to No. 140.

“Over time, I learned that what I am doing is what I love,” said Arriaga, who admitted to severe homesickness early in her career at UTSA. “It took a year to be comfortable with everything. But I told myself, ‘If you want to be a great player, you need to do all these things.'

“Right now, I'm not feeling like I've accomplished all that much, but I feel really good. I'm proud of all the work I've been doing, and all of that hard work is paying off right now.”

Last summer, Arriaga tried to qualify for the Women's World Amateur Team Championship, missing out by only two strokes.

As a result, she instead found herself at Red Sky the week of that international tournament. There, Arriaga discovered something important.